


Middle Child

by SummerStormFlower



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Brotherly Fluff, Brotherly Love, Bullying, Dewey breaks his hands, Dewey has some bad habits, Fights, Gen, Protective Louie Duck, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower
Summary: Dewey doesn’t always feel appreciated, but he always sticks up for his brothers no matter what. And as it turns out, they do appreciate him a lot more than he thought.
Relationships: Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck, Dewey Duck & Louie Duck
Comments: 14
Kudos: 166





	Middle Child

Dewey’s always had a little habit of getting carried away. Or at least that’s what Huey says. He takes something and pushes it way beyond the limit, usually landing himself in trouble. He admits he can’t deny this, but he thinks Huey has the exact same tendency; eyeing the JWG his red brother always has on him.

Once Dewey decided to see how long he could go without drinking anything. Another time, he wanted to find out how many bones in his body he could break. A different time, he wanted to find out how long he could go without sleep. And that’s not even half of all the extremes Dewey’s gone to. 

He knows it’s not very healthy. Huey tells him that everyday. But he doesn’t stop. He actually doesn’t know if he can.

He doesn’t know why he does this. All he knows is that it gets him attention, and that might be the reason why, but Dewey honestly doesn’t think about the reason often. 

Huey has theories. So does Louie. 

Huey thinks it may be because of his need for validation. Dewey doesn’t know what that means, but he never asks. Huey’s good at playing psychologist and Dewey doesn’t like being read like an open book. Huey always wants to ‘fix’ things right away, and Dewey sure there’s nothing wrong. So he has hurt himself a few times, but he’d never actually harm himself. (At least he doesn’t think so).

Louie thinks he might like pain or something, but Dewey disagrees. He doesn’t like the pain, he likes to know how much he can handle. Maybe that’s kinda close to what Louie says, but Dewey’s sure it’s different somehow. 

Along with taking things too far, Dewey has a habit of letting his emotions take over him. Not like Huey, who bottles things up until it explodes. No, when Dewey feels something, he lets it consume him until it eats away all his energy. It’s not bad when he’s happy. It’s ugly when he’s angry. It’s excruciatingly ugly when he’s sad. 

Right now, he’s angry. Well actually, he’s always a little bit angry because Uncle Donald’s often too busy to listen to him, and Huey often won’t help him with his homework, and Louie almost always picks Huey over him. But that’s a different kind of anger. 

This anger is red, blaring and hot. 

A classmate in the school cafeteria, Scott—Dewey thinks that’s his name. That stupid jerk just punched his little brother, dammit!!

Huey’s at Louie’s side—whose hand is over his right eye—in less than a second. Dewey’s never been too good at giving comfort, like Huey is, so he does what he’s best at:

Reckless.

Dewey lunges at Scott—his name might be Don actually? Whatever. He wants to find out how badly he can make What’s-His-Name bleed.  
__________________________

Dewey remembers one thing about being a baby. Louie liked to hit his face. He’d giggle when Dewey would whine after and he’d hit him again. But when Dewey would start crying, he’d stop and start crying too. 

He’s not sure why he’s thinking about this. Maybe because there’s nothing else to do. After beating up What’s-His-Name, Dewey not only was suspended, but had broke both his hands. 

It hurt. A lot. 

Dewey doesn’t mind the attention Uncle Donald gives him now, but he doesn’t particularly enjoy being fed, or having his teeth brushed, or help in the bathroom. 

At night, he usually ends up hitting one of his hands against the wall, which hurts so so SO BAD. Enough to make him burst into tears. Huey crawls into bed with him and holds him until the pain goes away or he cries himself to sleep. They eventually solve this problem by putting pillows against the wall. 

Louie is okay. He has a black eye, but he’s otherwise alright. Sometimes he bumps into something, which infuriates him to no end. Dewey can’t help but grin every time it happens.

“Hey,” Huey says one day, while they’re chilling in their room. He sets aside his guidebook and sits up. “Do you think Patrick will want revenge on Dewey?” he asks.

Dewey frowns. “Who?”

“The guy you beat up,” Louie answers, not looking up from his phone. 

Oh. So that’s his name. 

“I’m worried he’ll try to go after you before your hands heal,” Huey says with a nervous look.

Dewey hadn’t thought of that. 

“He won’t,” Louie says. 

Dewey blinks. “How do you know?”

Louie doesn’t look at him, but he smirks. “Because I *talked* to him.”

Huey gasps. He knows exactly what that means. 

Dewey does too and he’s shocked. “You...” he stammers, “For me?”

Louie pauses at the insecurity in Dewey’s tone. He puts his phone down and looks at him. “Of course for you. You’re my brother,” he says, like it’s obvious. 

Dewey doesn’t think it’s obvious. 

“But Huey’s your favourite.”

“What?” Louie and Huey both say with a confused frown. 

Dewey shrinks back a little. The attention isn’t so great anymore.

Huey and Louie then look at each other and nod. Dewey has no idea why. 

“Middle child syndrome,” Louie says. 

“I thought it was middle-child-itis,” says Huey.

Louie thinks for a moment. “Maybe it’s middlepause.”

Dewey frowns. “What are you guys talking about?”

Huey and Louie look at him, then go to sit on either side of him. 

“Dewey, it’s completely normal for one to experience feelings of inferiority when compared to their elder and younger siblings.”

Dewey scrunches his nose at Huey. “What?” He didn’t even know what in-furry-whatever means. 

“I got this,” Louie tells Huey. “Look, Dew, you get stuck in the middle a lot. Not on purpose, but it makes you feel bad.”

Now that made more sense. And hit the mark right on. Painfully. Dewey slumps sadly. “It’s always me,” he mumbles, “Why always me? Do I not matter?”

“Don’t you EVER think you don’t matter,” Louie tells him sternly. 

“But I think that all the time! I feel-I feel...” Dewey trails off, embarrassed. He likes the spotlight. He doesn’t like baring his soul. There’s a difference. 

Louie sighs softly and puts his arm around Dewey’s shoulders. “I’m sorry you feel that way. That’s our fault.”

“And there’s no excuse,” Huey adds, rubbing Dewey’s back. 

It’s nice. It’s really nice. For once, Dewey doesn’t mind being in the middle. Maybe baring his soul isn’t so bad after all. Maybe it’s okay when there are people around to really listen to him. 

“From now on, we’ll do better,” Louie promises. 

Then he and Huey envelope Dewey in a hug. 

Dewey’s sure there’ll still be times he gets overlooked. He’s still going to do the same stupid things and he’s still going feel insecure, because it’s just apart of who he is. 

But he knows Huey and Louie are going to try harder; try to listen to him more, see him more, understand him a little better. And Uncle Donald will too because Huey’s a tattle tail. 

Dewey decides it doesn’t matter. As long as they have moments like this; when his brothers have their arms around him, reassuring him that he is loved. It doesn’t matter if he’s in the middle. He’s still loved.


End file.
